14 Dec 2015

We've reached the end of our learning year, only this exams week and summer is just round the corner!

There have been many opportunities to know each other during these months and, from my "observation deck" I've seen your positive changes in many aspects, but mainly as teenagers and young adults who have decided to go a step ahead and reach higher.

I hope you continue to hold tightly what you have gained, it hasn't been so easy sometimes, and the effort has been worth it!

3 Nov 2015

2. How did Jonas hurt his knee?3. What wildlife did Jonas and Gabriel see?4. What things made Jonas happy?5. What food did Jonas and Gabriel eat?6. What wrong choice does Jonas think he may have made? Why?7. Why had there not really been a choice about leaving for Jonas?8. What reason did Jonas have to cry?

Chapter 23

1. What did Jonas feel was not far away?

2. How did Jonas try to keep Gabriel warm?3. What did Jonas remember and tell Gabriel about?4. What good memory did Jonas share with Gabriel?5. As Jonas reached the hilltop, what did he remember?6. What does Jonas find waiting at the top of the hill?7. What did Jonas see as he was going down?8. What did Jonas hear?9. What place did Jonas think he also heard the sound from?10. Where do you think Jonas went?

31 Oct 2015

2. What is recorded in the Hall of Records?3. How was Jonas able to see the release?4. What does Jonas realize a release is?5. What does Jonas learn about the release of Rosemary?6. What does Jonas feel coming on after he learns the news?

Chapter 20

1. What must no one hear Jonas do?

2. Where will Jonas stay the night?3. Why does father lie to Jonas?4. What is Fiona already in training to do?5. What is the worst part of the memories?6. What does The Giver say they will do after they eat?7. What would happen if the plan failed?8. Why will the community be forced to take the memories?9. What does The Giver no longer have?10. What does Jonas insist that The Giver keep?11. What kind of memories would The Giver transfer? Why?12. Describe some details of the plan.13. Who is The Giver's daughter?

Chapter 21

1. What did Father vote for? Why?

2. Name at least three rules that Jonas broke.3. How did Jonas get Gabriel to sleep that night?4. Why did Jonas make Gabriel sleep in the morning?5. Describe the daily routine of Jonas and Gabriel.6. What kind of planes did Jonas see?7. How did Jonas keep from being caught by the searchers?

19 Oct 2015

I would like you to talk to each other about the clothes people wear and why they choose to wear particular things.

Now you have 1 minute to discuss if the fashion industry has too much influence.Part 4Do you think looking good is important and explain why or why not?Do you think people are judged by what they wear and is that right?Are you interested in fashion and do you think the fashion industry is too powerful?

5 Oct 2015

Candidates are given spoken instructions, along with written prompts, and work on a decision-making task. The focus is on sustaining the interaction by: sharing ideas, expressing and justifying opinions, agreeing and/or disagreeing, suggesting, speculating, evaluating and negotiating to reach a decision.

Give opinions, agree and disagree, make suggestions, etc.; take turns.

27 Aug 2015

And as part of your homework, you had to find out and explain the meaning of some of these expressions.Well, here is some help for you!Have a look and get ready to tell your classmates the interesting origins of those expressions!

4 Aug 2015

Go on with your reading experience and complete these exercises. Hand them in next class on piece of paper.1) Answer these comprehension questions about chapters 14 to 17.

2) On page 83, Leo describes a letter that he writes to his mother. But this is only a description. Based on Leo's description, try to write what would have been his real letter to his mother.3) Until Chapter 16, in what ways has Leo’s stay at Brandham Hall been successful for him? What is your opinion of Marian’s and Ted’s treatment of Leo?

Reality: It's too cold for being cute. You have to bundle up so much that you could be wearing pajamas under all your winter gear, and no one would know.

Expectation: You're finally going to do all those things that

you've been planning to do forever,

like cleaning your closet,

organising your makeup/CD's/etc. drawer,

finishing your John Green book,

and finally starting that cool V-log.

Reality:

Expectation: Going on a romantic ice skating date with your crush.

Reality: Your crush doesn't know how to ice skate, so the date ends up going more like nothing...

Expectation: Epic days of fun outside,

no matter the weather!, with your friends!

Reality: It's too cold

and everybody just ends up complaining as soon as you get outside.

Expectation: You are going to have a new haircut, a pump up at the gym, and go back to school looking ah-mazing!

Reality: You get sick and spend the last week of break in bed with a fever and a runny nose, and go back to school looking like Piñon Fijo.

Expectation: You'll be so sad at the end of break

and dread going back to school.

Reality: You're secretly excited to go back to school.

You were getting kind of bored,

and you're super excited

to see all your friends and start a new semester.

OK, OK...

Reality can be hard sometimes but don't let it make you feel down! Enjoy your winter break, have fun with your friends and family, take your time for relaxing and slowing down a bit... and best of all... go dancing!

22 Jun 2015

This part tests the candidates’ ability to produce an extended piece of discourse.

Tests ability to: speak at length coherently, use language to describe, compare and contrast and comment upon a topic.

In Part 2, candidates are given the opportunity to speak for 1 minute without interruption. Each candidate is asked to compare two colourphotographs, and to make a further comment about them in response to a task that is read out by the interlocutor. A prompt is given to the candidates in the form of a direct question; this is written above the photographs. Candidates are expected to point out similarities and differences between the photographs and then move on to deal with the question, answering it with reference to both photographs.

Candidates have the opportunity to show their ability to organisetheir thoughts and ideas, and express themselves coherently with appropriate language. The listening candidate is also asked to comment (for about 30 seconds) after their partner’s long turn. They should not speak during their partner’s long turn.

Example Task

The interview will begin with the examiner saying something like:

Q: In this part of the test I'm going to give each of you two photographs. I'd like you to talk about your photographs on your own for about 1 minute and also to answer a short question about your partner's photographs.Q: (Candidate A), here are your photographs. They show people participating in sporting activities.Q: I'd like you to compare the two photographs and say why sport is important to people. Q: All right?

Notice there are TWO instructions here: first to 'compare' the two photographs and also 'to say why' sport is important to people. In Part 2 candidates need to show they can compare but also give an opinion.

The examiner will then ask Candidate B a short question about these photographs.Q: Thank you (Candidate A). (Candidate B) which sport would you most like to try?

Candidate B will then do their long turn with a different set of photographs and at the end, Candidate A will be asked a short question.

2 Jun 2015

Some words about the authorLeslie Poles Hartley was born in 1895 near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England, the son of a solicitor who became a director of a factory. He was educated at Harrow and Oxford University and was an officer during World War 1 in the Norfolk Regiment. He started writing as a reviewer for various journals in the 1920s and published a collection of horror stories in 1924.

His first full-length novel was Simonetta Perkins (1925), which was based in Venice where he spent much of his time. But it was with The Shrimp and the Anemone, published in 1944 as the first part of a trilogy about a brother and sister growing up, that he achieved critical acclaim. His biggest success was with The Go-Between in 1953. This novel was made into a film by Joseph Losey in 1970, with a screenplay by Harold Pinter, a well-known British playwright, starring Julie Christie, Alan Bates and Michael Redgrave.

Hartley was awarded a CBE* in 1955. He died in 1972.

*CBE stands for ‘Commander of the Order of the British Empire’, which is the third in rank of the five classes of the honours system in the UK. For more information: UK honours and awards.

Summary

An elderly man, Leo Colston, finds an old diary he wrote when he was twelve. The diary makes Leo remember events which took place in the summer of 1900 when he stayed with Marcus Maudsley, a boy he had met at school.

The events affect him for the rest of his life.

Background and themes

In the prologue to The Go-Between, L. P. Hartley says: ‘The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.’ The Go-Between paints a detailed picture´of rural England at the beginning of the twentieth century (around 1900). So the past is one of the main themes of the book. Other main themes are: social classes, adolescence, and friendship, trust and betrayal. You will find them very often as long as you read the book.

Activities

Chapter 1

Setting (Place and Time)

Characters

Main events

Chapter 2

Setting (Place and Time)

Characters

Main events

Chapter 3

Setting (Place and Time)

Characters

Main events

Chapter 4

Setting (Place and Time)

Characters

Main events

Chapter 5

Setting (Place and Time)

Characters

Main events

Answer

Why were the star signs important to Leo?

Why did the boys attack Leo for using the word ‘vanquish’?

How did Leo solve his problems at his school?

Why couldn't he solve the problems he found at Brandham Hall?

What letters opened Leo’s diary?

Why hadn't he heard anyone say his name for many years?

What kind of relationship does Leo have with Maudsley at school?

Can you see a connection between Marian and the deadly nightshade? If so, what is it?

Who do you think Marian talked to in Norwich?

Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?

In case they are false, rewrite them so that they are true.

Mr. Maudsley was so rich that he didn’t have to work.

Mr. Maudsley controlled everything at Brandham Hall.

Denys got on well with his mother.

Leo had already noticed that Marian was very beautiful when Marcus told
him.